You can choose to be distracted by the Trump or Clinton gaff of the day, but this is the stuff that matters.

A U.S. Navy destroyer launched a salvo of Tomahawk cruise missiles early Thursday at three coastal radar sites along the western coast of Yemen in what officials said was retaliation for missiles launched this week toward a U.S. military ship in the Red Sea.

The Pentagon said the predawn offensive, launched from the U.S. destroyer Nitze, was aimed at installations in an area controlled by Houthi rebels. Initial assessments show the sites were destroyed, according to U.S. officials.

“This was a response to direct threats to our people, to our ship, and we responded to that threat and we will be prepared to respond again,” Cook said, deflecting questions about Iranian ships being deployed to the region and Tehran’s support for the Houthis.

“Iran has played a role and has been supportive of the Houthi rebels more broadly in the conflict in Yemen, and our message to those involved in that separate conflict is that they should return to the negotiating table consistent with where they were just a few months ago,” he said.

The strikes, authorized by President Obama, pull the U.S. directly into a war in Yemen that’s gone on for more than a year. They came just hours after the Pentagon said the U.S. guided-missile destroyer Mason was targeted by missiles fired from Hudaydah, a rebel-controlled area in western Yemen.